They say a woman’s work is never done. I agree.

But I also like to say an investor’s job is never done too.

There’s always the search for that next most important stock idea.

I admit, we’re notorious for suffering from FOMO – no matter how well our stocks performed, or how many winners we got, we’re still haunted by that one stock we missed out: surging ahead to a price that doesn’t make sense to buy.

That doesn’t mean we should stop looking. It means we need to stop beating ourselves up. It means we need to keep on keeping on – continue to read widely, talk to your community, and be present with the world around us.

Sometimes, the best ideas are the ones we get from just reading, observing.

Back in 2022-2023, one of the best winners in my portfolio was an investment in one of the biggest US brokers called Interactive Brokers. Today it has gained 213% since I first shared this idea with my Diligence Wealth Club members.

Now, this stock position was largely inspired from a random read from a newspaper article. At the time, there was already a huge wave of new online brokers in Singapore. Personally, I’ve used a few of them. Now, I’ve already used Interactive Brokers but it didn’t occur to me this was also a publicly-listed company and had a much longer operating history.

What was interesting about Interactive Broker was it has a niche target audience – connecting both serious retail (like myself) and institutional investors to global market access. It works closely with hedge funds, mutual funds, and financial advisors, offering more than the traditional brokerage firms like Schwab or TDAmeritrade.

In other words, the cash-rich business has created an economic moat that secures serious investors in the world of global online trading. Investors in Asia can access western stock markets and vice-versa.

If you track over the last ten years, IBKR has enjoyed tremendous growth in its revenues and net profits (see chart below). It doesn’t spend heavily on marketing and relies on word of mouth, or referrals to grow its accounts.

Sometimes, these stock ideas looked too “ordinary”. That’s why I spend a lot of time reading -– Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg and so on. I spend time reading industry reports, blogs, newsletters and annual reports.

The whole point is to sharpen our investing lens – to sharpen our observation. These overlooked ideas don’t simply shout out to you. It’s a quiet whisper. And will appear when you least expect it – in a random article, or a conversation with a friend. Sometimes, it’s buried in a totally unrelated company’s annual report.

When we build strong observation habits — supported by a solid framework — we start seeing opportunities most people walk right past.

And that’s how we quietly, steadily build wealth over the long term.

What’s your favourite “go-to” resource for investing? Hit me a reply!

​Click here to read my Top 13 Investing Books to Read for Beginners​

Willie Keng, CFA

Founder, dividendtitan.com

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